UE's Ryan never short on motivation

Aces' star raising the bar late in senior season

ERIN MCCRACKEN / COURIER & PRESS Archives
Evansville’s Colt Ryan (11) goes up against Drake’s Richard Carter (3) as he tries to take at shot during the first half of their game on Feb. 10, 2013.

MOLLY BARTELS / COURIER & PRESS Archives
UE’s Colt Ryan and Indiana State’s Justin Gant go for a loose ball in the first half of their game at the Ford Center in Evansville on March 2, 2013.

Evansville Courier & Press

When Colt Ryan went through his college recruitment, a list of potential Big Ten Conference destinations dwindled to just mid-major programs sometime between his junior and senior seasons at Batesville High School.

The major-conference universities passed on Batesville's all-time leading scorer, and it's motivated Ryan for the last four years.

"Growing up, when someone told me I couldn't do something or something like that, I've always wanted to prove them wrong," he said. "I played AAU with a bunch of the guys who went to the Big Ten schools, and I've definitely kept that in the back of my mind. They're all great players, and taking nothing away from them, I felt like I could play there.

"But I'm happy with the decision I made."

Ryan is closing in on the end of the most productive University of Evansville basketball career since the Aces' program moved to the Division I level more than 30 years ago.

The 6-foot-5 senior forward is second on the school's all-time scoring list heading into this weekend's Missouri Valley Conference tournament, and at 2,173 points, Ryan is the league's active leader.

His legacy, however, reaches beyond that quick-fire jumper off a screen, lethal transition 3-point shot and soft touch from the free throw line.

"He's just been a great ambassador for our school and our program," said Aces coach Marty Simmons. "He's been a major part of any success we've had, and I think the impact he's had on this program, as a player and a person, is something people will remember for a long, long time.

"I think if coach (Arad) McCutchan or coach (Jim) Crews could come up with the persona of an Evansville basketball player, Colt Ryan would be that guy."

Ryan earned such accolades as the MVC's freshman of the year and twice found himself on the all-conference first team. But the league also recognized him as its scholar-athlete of the year in 2012.

"My parents and my family instilled in me at an early age that grades were really important," Ryan said. "I used to compete with my friends in grades, too. If they got a better grade than me, I didn't like it. I liked that I could prove to them I could get a better grade also."

Ryan's father, Phil, and mother, Pam, attend most every Aces game, and all of them this season.

With that support system in place, Ryan's team-leading scoring average has climbed steadily every year except this one, when a hip injury hindered him during nonconference play.

As Indiana State coach Greg Lansing said, "When you play Evansville, you know you're going to have to guard 11," referring to Ryan's jersey number.

But in the same vein that saw the Big Ten turn Ryan down, he's still searching for respect — still facing doubters.

"It was to a point where it almost felt like people were saying, ‘Colt's only a scorer, or he's only scoring because he gets a lot of shots and he's not shooting a high percentage' — stuff like that," he said. "I realized I didn't have much time left to prove them wrong, and I wanted to make sure I acted on it."

So No. 11 raised the bar again.

On Ryan's current tear, which has him averaging an MVC-leading 25.6 points per game since Feb. 1 to go with 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals, Evansville has won four in a row.

"He has clearly helped put our team on the competitive map since he's been here," said athletic director John Stanley.

Similar numbers landed Creighton junior Doug McDermott All-American status and a binder full of national press clippings. Until this season, though, Evansville hadn't won more than 16 games with Ryan on the roster.

"We've talked about what I believe to be the similarities of (McDermott) and Colt and what they've done for each program," Simmons said. "I think the thing that's held Colt back a little bit is that we just haven't had the success nationally to maybe get him recognized even more."

It's not too late for that.

The Aces need three wins in as many days, starting with Friday's Arch Madness matchup against Indiana State, to make the program's first NCAA tournament since 1999.

"There's more left to accomplish," Ryan said. "We're definitely not done."

As for those penciling in top-seeded Creighton as the tournament champion, Ryan just might prove them wrong, too. It wouldn't be the first time.